Thursday, July 31, 2014

Today on my blog I have the Awakening 3 Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, excerpt, review, and giveaway.

Nearly fifty years after the events of Awakening 2, Lilly
decides to stop running away and returns to Italy only to find the threat of a
vampire civil war growing. With the help of Beth, Carrie and Jamie, Lilly
learns how to face her feelings about her tragic past and to accept that,
whether Torren wants her or not, her heart wants him. But when she finds Torren
in Rome, not only is he still with Vittoria, he doesn’t seem to remember Lilly
at all.

Can Lilly convince Torren to leave Vittoria to be with her
and help the Organization find a peaceful solution to the conflict, or will
Vittoria and a vampire war come between Torren and Lilly and their happily ever
after?

Excerpt:

“Torren?” she said again, a little louder, and this time
Vittoria’s head snapped up and her eyes, narrowing to slits, locked with
Lilly’s. In them, Lilly saw fear, anger, and hatred. She supposed she could
understand that. But that wouldn’t deter her, either.

She was just about to say Torren’s name one more time when
his head cocked slightly to the side and then, following Vittoria’s gaze,
slowly rotated in her direction.

Those impossibly blue eyes came to rest on her, and it was
as if a warm wind blew through her. There was another shifting and clicking
into place, but this time it was inside her. That gaping hole she’d carried
around with her for years was filled.

Torren gasped and started to rise, but Vittoria put her hand
on his arm, and he settled down again.

“Hello,” Torren said. His voice—that voice like velvet over
marble—was full of wonder.

Hello? That was it? After all these years, a casual hello
was how he greeted her?

Lilly’s stomach dipped, and then, as she continued to stare
into his eyes, as she watched his gaze roam over her features without a hint of
recognition, her stomach full-on sank.

Review:

WOW! What a way to end this series. As much as I didn’t want
it to end Jeanie did an amazing job with it. The transformation of Lily from
book one to this book is truly amazing. I didn’t think it was possible to love
Torren more but I do.

Even though this is a vampire romance there is so much more
to this book. There is cloned blood which could have the vampires coming out of
hiding which is something the vampire council is deciding on. It’s such a great
series and I can’t wait for more from this author. 5/5 Bloody Fangs

Jeanie Grey is a feminist reader and writer of
romance and erotica who lives in Oregon. Her short stories have been published
on deadlyeverafter.com
and thedarkerhalf.com.
For more about her work and her views on writing romance and erotica, please
visit her website at http://jeaniegrey.blogspot.com

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Jeanie for letting me review your book and say Thank You to RBTL for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

Twenty-year-old Alayna Scott receives visions around water, but even her foresight couldn’t prepare her for the tragic accident that claimed the lives of her parents. With everything she loves gone, Alayna packs up and moves to the small town of Juniper Grove in hopes of starting over.

Jayden McKnight can’t explain the attraction that he feels whenever Alayna is near, but he does know that he will do whatever it takes to win her heart. When a vampire selects Alayna as his next victim, Jayden will stop at nothing to ensure her safety – even if that means bringing Alayna into a world that she never knew existed.

Love blossoms, challenges are made, and Alayna will find herself fighting not only to survive, but to understand what she has become.

Sunlight caught the crystal that hung from the rear view mirror, and rainbow bursts of color radiated throughout the car. My parents and I had gotten up early so that we could make the three hour drive to my uncle’s house, but from the line of backed up traffic in front of us, it seemed that it would take us longer. I leaned back in my seat and let the music blaring in my earbuds help pass the time. My mother turned in her seat in the front, and I glanced at her. Seeing her mouth my name, I pulled one side of the earbuds out of my ear.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“I asked if you were hungry,” she replied. “Your father thinks that we should get off the interstate at the next exit and grab something to eat while the traffic clears up.”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. It’s a good idea, anyway, since Uncle John turned vegetarian. There’s no telling what he’s going to try to get us to eat.”

My father’s hearty laugh rumbled through the car. “Do you remember that rolled up spinach thing he tried to feed us last time?”

“How could I forget?” I said.

Mom sprung to her brother’s defense. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“Then how come you didn’t eat it? I saw you slip it to the dog when you thought nobody was watching.” My father glanced at my mother while she tried to come up with a retort.

“If you saw that, then it’s obvious that I wasn’t sneaky enough.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.

My dad laughed as he flipped on the turn signal and merged into the right lane, coming to a stop behind a logging truck. I looked at the long logs protruding from the flatbed. “It always makes me nervous when they hang off like that,” I said. A shiver raced over my body.

“It’s okay. They make sure to load them on so that they won’t come off,” my dad reassured me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped when I heard a screech of tires behind us. Turning my head, I locked eyes with the man in the driver’s seat of the truck that was hurtling toward us. The truck slammed into the back of our car, and my mother’s scream echoed in the tight space around me. A shower of white stars filled my vision as pain ripped through my shoulder and cut off my own scream. As the darkness closed in around me, I heard the faint shrill of sirens in the distance.

Review:

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely loved this
book! I have no idea why I waited so long to read it.

Juniper Grove is not a normal town. It’s filled with all
kinds of paranormal beings that live right alongside with the humans. Alayna
moves there after the tragic death of her parents. As she is trying to pick up
the pieces of her shattered life she meets Jayden and they instantly have a connection.
One night on her way home Alayna who isn’t very familiar with the town’s curfew
runs into trouble with a stranger who wants to make her his next meal. Jayden
comes to her rescue and in doing so opens up Alayna’s eyes to a world she didn’t
exist.

As I said earlier I love this book. All the characters are
well written and enjoyed getting to know them all. With that said I do I have
my favorite and its Jayden. I just loved him. I can’t wait for the next book in
this incredible series. 5/5 Bloody Fangs

About the Author:

Jaidis Shaw currently resides in South Carolina with her husband and beautiful daughter (with another daughter on the way). With a passion for reading, Jaidis can always be found surrounded by books and dreaming of new stories. She enjoys challenging herself by writing in different genres and currently has several projects in the works.

Jaidis also owns and operates Juniper Grove Book Solutions, voted Top Three for Best Promotional Firm, Site, or Resource in the 2013 Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. In her spare time, Jaidis maintains her two blogs, Juniper Grove and Blooming with Jaidis. One of her main goals in life is to encourage her daughters to let their imaginations run wild.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Today on my blog I have the Anthem's Fall Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, random things, and giveaway.

Above a horrified New York City, genetics and ethics collide as the fallen emperor and a banished exile of the same herculean race ignite into battle over the city’s rooftops. In the streets below, a brilliant young scientist has discovered a technology that can defeat them both, yet might be more terrible than either.

Set both in modern New York City and in the technologically sophisticated yet politically savage world of Anthem, Anthem’s Fall unfurls into a plot where larger than life characters born with the prowess of gods are pitted against the shrewd brilliance of a familiar and unlikely heroine.

Review:

I wasn’t pulled into this book right away but once the
storyline took off for me I was sucked in by all the twists and the two
different worlds.

When I started this book I kept wondering how Earth and
Anthem which are two different worlds could be connected and when it was
explained I was in awe over it. The whole story is just written so well that at
times I kept wondering if the technology could actually happen in our time.
There is plenty of action to keep the story going and for someone like me who
is not tech savvy I wasn’t lost at all. I really enjoyed this book and I am
looking forward to more books from S.L. Dunn. 4/5 Bloody Fangs

S.L. Dunn is the debut author of Anthem’s Fall, a novel he wrote amid the wanderings of his mid twenties. He has written while living intermittently in St. John USVI, Boston, Maine and Seattle. Raised on big screen superheroes and pop science fiction, he sought to create a novel that bridged a near-sci-fi thriller with a grand new fantasy. He currently resides in Seattle with his girlfriend Liz and their dog Lucy, and is hard at work completing the next book of the Anthem’s Fall series.

5 Random Things About Me:

1) I’ve been a pescetarian for five years, and my mercury levels are
probably off the charts.

2) I’ve put 7,000 miles on my Harley Sportster 1200. Mostly on
back-roads, I’m not a huge fan of riding on highways.

3) I’ve set foot on twelve national parks in the past four years. US
Virgin Islands to Acadia to Grand Canyon to Olympic. Don’t ask me if I have a
favorite.

4) In a perfect world my dream job would be the head of creative
design at a high-end year round haunted hayride. Maybe in the winter season it
could transform to a regionally renowned sleigh ride, funds permitting.

5) My mid-range fitness goal is to either climb Mt. Rainier or pass the
qualifying round on American Ninja Warrior. Very unlikely that either will
happen, due to the fear of avalanches and the Warped Wall.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to S.L. for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Today on my blog I have the Screaming Divas Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, and giveaway.

At sixteen, Trudy Baxter is tired of her debutante mom, her deadbeat dad, and her standing reservation at the juvenile detention center. Changing her name to Trudy Sin, she cranks up her major chops as a singer and starts a band, gathering around other girls ill at ease in their own lives. Cassie Haywood, would-have-been beauty queen, was scarred in an accident in which her alcoholic mom was killed. But she can still sing and play her guitar, even though she seeks way too much relief from the pain in her body and her heart through drugs, and way too much relief from loneliness through casual sex. Still, it's Cassie who hears former child prodigy Harumi Yokoyama playing in a punk band at a party, and enlists her, outraging Harumi's overbearing first-generation Japanese parents. The fourth member is Esther Shealy, who joins as a drummer in order to be close to Cassie--the long-time object of her unrequited love--and Harumi, her estranged childhood friend. Together, they are Screaming Divas, and they're quickly swept up as a local sensation. Then, just as they are about to achieve their rock-girl dreams, a tragedy strikes.

Review:

There is two things I love reading and music combine that in
one book and I am a happy book lover even when that music is punk which is not
my style. But with that said I did enjoy this book.

The four girls who make up Screaming Divas are all broken in
their own way but when they come together the music starts to heal them but one
mistake leads to a tragedy that can ruin everything they have done to heal
themselves. Can they find their way back to each other or suffer through their
pain and loss alone?

I enjoyed this book even though the music wasn’t my taste
but the way Suzanne writes had me seeing the club the girls played in down to
the mosh pit of dancing. I felt as if I was actually there watching the
Screaming Divas play and see all the people dancing.

All four girls come from completely different back grounds
but each one is broken in her own way and watching them come together and help
heal one another is a beautiful thing even with all the crazy things going on
around them. I of course I had my favorite of the girls and that was Cassie.
There was just something about her that really touched my heart and the way her
story ended was heartbroken. I understood why it had to happen but it was still
hard to read.

I will definitely read more from Suzanne in the future. 4/5
Bloody Fangs

Back in the day, Suzanne Kamata spent a lot of time hanging out in a club in Columbia, South Carolina, much like the one in ScreamingDivas. (The beat goes on . . .) She later wrote about musicians for The State newspaper, The Japan Times, and other publications. Now, she mostly writes novels. In her free time, she enjoys searching for the perfect fake fur leopard-print coat and listening to the Japanese all-girl band Chatmonchy.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Suzanne for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Today on my blog I have The Legacy Letters tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, 5 Random Things, and giveaway.

A tragedy begins.

A husband and wife separate.

He’s dying. She doesn’t know.

She’s pregnant. He can’t return.

Now he races against time—

In the solitude of a mountain cabin.

In a faraway mountain range.

Trying to finish . . .

For his children—

his captivating stories and memories,

turned into practical, moral, and spiritual instructions,

now their “guidebook to life.”

For his wife—

his intimate words of great love and deep regret,

now his journey of redemption,

now her passage to forgiveness.

Ultimately, he gives his final gift

to her, to them,

and now,

to us all.

Review:

In The Legacy Letters the narrator is writing letters to his
children and wife as a memento of life lessons since he is passing away and won’t
be there to see his children grow up or even be born for that matter. In his
letters he offers them advice about love, friendship, money, growing old, and
just how to basically enjoy life and to never take it for granted.

I didn’t really have any expectations going into this book
but I am so glad I read it. There isn’t a plot, climax, or even a resolution
like we get in most books. But what this book has going for it that others don’t
is it gives some great advice and makes us the reader actually sit and ponder
on things like love, friendship, and loss. While I was reading one of the
letters I was taken back to a time in my childhood that I actual had forgotten
about where I came across one such letter from mom to me about these same
things written in the form as if she had passed away and it brought back all
those memories I had while reading this letter. Thankfully my mom is still with
me but I remembered all the emotions I went through while reading that letter
that my mom to this day has no idea I found little alone know I even read. But
I think the narrator like my mom has given his family a gift that will always
be cherished by his kids and wife as the kids get to the father they never met
and the wife gets to remember all the reasons she fell in love with him to
begin with.

I know I will keep the memory of this book for a long time
just as I did with that letter I found all those years ago from my mom and hold
it close to my heart. As we are not promised tomorrow so we need to live each
day as it’s our last and be thankful for what we have and not worry about what
we don’t. 4/5 Bloody Fangs

Carew lives life as a series of great tests of the spirit. Born with an adventurer’s heart—a fierce and undying curiosity to see and explore the world—he takes to his challenges as if they were fatefully created just for him. He is determined to be a Renaissance Man in an age that lauds the specialist. As seen by his writings and songs in The Legacy Letters, he is fascinated with the human condition and chronicles it by immersing himself in all its endless variations.

5 Random Things About Me:

I
like to eat Cheerios with my son during thunderstorms (we call them
“sleepy-o’s”).

The horse I was married on was the horse I did my
first book signing on—his name is “Boots.”

I worked on one of Marlon Brando’s last films, “Don
Juan de Marco.” We had great conversations about motorcycles and cars. He gave me signed baseball.

After having met on a ranch in Arizona where I
worked as a cowboy, my now wife and I courted each other with over 200
old-fashioned love letters for over two years.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Carew for letting me review your book and for the 5 Random Things and say Thank You to Jean BookNerd for letting me participate in this tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

Today on my blog I have The Founders' Plot Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, and giveaway.

Clarion Reviews – Five Stars: … an

intriguing and rich novel. The char-

acters, dialogue, and plot will

entertain readers…to the end.

Kirkus Reviews: … for a fictional

account of a contemporary political

dispute, this is a competent if not

inspiring option.

When California Governor Michael J. DiGrasso pushes through a tough immigration law, the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional, but the decorated Vietnam veteran refuses to accept the ruling. This ignites a clash between federal, state, and judicial power that threatens to jar the country’s political and justice systems. And it leaves the governor’s long-time friend, President of the United States, Martin W. Ballard, with the decision of whether to federalize the California National Guard to enforce the Court’s order.

Tension increases when Elizabeth Stern, a savvy member of the opposition party tries to ram through a new immigration law that will pass judicial review. An expert in back-room legislative machinations, she’ll go to any length to force the governor to obey the Court decision, and her devious maneuvers throw DiGrasso’s personal and professional life into turmoil.

One subplot involves DiGrasso’s close personal friend, Congressman Manuel Mendoza, who is indicted for taking bribes. Another concerns two Mexican families in the country illegally and the tragedies that befall them because of the new immigration law.

The unfolding of these interwoven events creates a tense, fast-paced thriller that parallels the current tumult over illegal immigration and the on-going debate on Constitutional interpretation that will leave readers craving for the eventual outcome.

Frank Victoria was born and raised in Chicago, a city rich in industry and ambitions and many of his ideas were molded by its brand of politics and immigrant culture. He served in the Marine Corps, which left an imprint of just how much he could do and helped create the persistence needed to earn his BA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University.

It took him nearly eight years to get the degree because he repeatedly had to interrupt his studies with full-time work to pay for his expenses. He toiled on the docks loading and unloading freight, moved furniture, worked construction, was a cabbie, a shoe salesman and a factory worker. The payoff: Time in the ivory tower setting balanced by a nitty gritty education in the real world.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Today on my blog I have the Vortex Blog Tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, review, excerpt, and giveaway.

The impossible was just the beginning. Now in their second year as superhuman government weapons-in-training at the Pentagonal Spire, Tom Raines and his friends are mid-level cadets in the elite combat corps known as the Intrasolar Forces. But as training intensifies and a moment arrives that could make or break his entire career, Tom’s loyalties are again put to the test.

Encouraged to betray his ideals and friendships for the sake of his country, Tom is convinced there must be another way. And the more aware he becomes of the corruption surrounding him, the more determined he becomes to fight it, even if he sabotages his own future in the process.

Drawn into a power struggle more dramatic than he has ever faced before, Tom stays a hyperintelligent step ahead of everyone, like the exceptional gamer he is—or so he believes. But when he learns that he and his friends have unwittingly made the most grievous error imaginable, Tom must find a way to outwit an enemy so nefarious that victory seems hopeless. Will his idealism and bravado cost him everything—and everyone that matters to him?

Filled with action and intelligence, camaraderie and humor, the second book in S.J. Kincaid’s futuristic World War III Insignia trilogy continues to explore fascinating and timely questions about power, politics, technology, loyalty, and friendship.

Excerpt:

The
flames glittered in her black eyes. Their skirmish had tousled her hair, and he
could see the scarring she tended to hide under locks of dark hair from the
side of her head where she had most of it. His gaze traced over it, and Medusa
seemed to realize what he was looking at. She turned her head away.

“No, wait,” Tom said, circling to
her side of the fire. “You don’t have to . . . I mean, I thought you don’t care
if . . .”

“I don’t.”

He stood there a moment,
dismayed, uncertain what to do. Then he reached out for her, and she flinched
back.

“What, you said you don’t care,”
Tom pointed out. “Either you care or you don’t care what I’m seeing.”

“I’ve had this since I was very
young, Tom.” Her voice was acidic. “I am used to it. So, no, I don’t care
anymore.”

“So why are you upset when I—”

“It’s different with you.”

The implication slammed him: he’d
done this. He had to fix it.

This time, he took her gently by
the shoulder before she could pull back. When he lifted his palm to brush the
dark strands of her hair aside, her hand flew to the sword in his scabbard. Tom
let her draw it if she wanted to. Soon, he could see her face, that mass of
burn scar tissue twisting its way from her scalp, down her features.

She stood there, utterly rigid,
and he was vaguely aware of the sword wavering indecisively between them, like
she couldn’t decide whether to sink it into him or toss it aside. Tom’s hand
hovered over her cheek. He wasn’t sure whether this was okay, so he stayed that
way, feeling the warmth radiating from her skin.

“Does it hurt?” he asked her.

Her black eyes flashed up to his.
The point of the sword bit into his abdomen. “The nerves are dead. What do you
think?”

Tom opened and closed his mouth a
few times before getting the words out. “I lost all my fingers. They froze.” He
felt embarrassed admitting this, but he held his hands up, the only offering he
had. “And I know the nerves are dead and they’re not even there anymore, so I’m
imagining it, but sometimes they hurt. It’s weird. It’s stupid.”

Medusa considered him, and he was
aware of the sword sliding back down. She planted it in the ground by her feet.
“I shouldn’t have tried to kick out your fire.”

“You were right. It would’ve
gotten me killed.”

She lowered herself next to the
crackling flames and tugged on his trouser leg, so he sank down next to her.
They faced each other in the wavering golden light, and Medusa took his hand,
then raised it so it hovered near her jaw again.

“I don’t feel anything,” she told
him.

This time, Tom brushed his palm
over the scar tissue. Strange. He’d expected something hard or rough. But it
was cool, even soft in places. There was something about seeing the burn so
close, feeling it, that diminished it in his mind. It shrank away as that
shocking thing seen only in fleeting, stolen glimpses, and soon all he could
see was the girl across from him, with this one more aspect rendering her . . .
well, far from ordinary.

“You haven’t tried to guess my
name today,” Medusa pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. Forgot.” Then he threw
one out. “Wu Tang.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s your
most pitiful guess yet.”

Tom leaned in and whispered,
“Tell me your real name and I’ll stop coming up with bad guesses.”

She shoved him lightly. “You
can’t coerce me with bad guesses.”

“I can try, Murgatroid.”

“Murgatroid?” She started
laughing. “Is that even a name? It’s not Cantonese.”

Tom watched her and his brain
seemed to short out. He wasn’t sure what to blame for it later. Maybe he
temporarily lost his mind because Medusa was so close to him. Maybe his mind
blurred at the sight of fire dancing in her black irises.

Maybe there simply was nothing
sensible in his head in that moment, nothing to stop him. He reached over and
drew her into his arms, feeling her fragile shoulders tense against his palms,
then he dipped his head to hers and claimed her lips in his own.

The last time they had kissed,
Tom had been in VR; he hadn’t felt a thing. His mind had buzzed with the
realization he was kissing her, and maybe that’s why some part of him hadn’t
been fully present.

Not this time.

Her body softened against his,
and to the tips of his toes Tom experienced this liquid elation, this utter
rightness like he’d never felt before. His palm stroked up her back, cupped the
hot skin of her neck, fingers twining into her silken black hair. The world
seemed to go still and there was nothing under the crisp, starry sky of Siberia
but Medusa, the feel of her, the taste of her, and need roared up within him as
he tightened his grip and deepened the kiss.

Review:

I enjoyed this book even though due to my own fault I was
lost in the book as I thought I had read book one. But with that said I did like
this book and after finishing it I went to go buy book one so I can read it and
then I plan to re-read this one again so it makes better sense to me.

This is one of those books that you get pulled into right
from the start and the next thing you know you have read the last page but you
still want more. And I definitely need book three just so I can see what is
going to happen next. I mean how often do you read a book where you love all
the characters even the bad ones? I know for me it doesn’t happen often and
with this book I loved them all. I also love how S.J. has the right amount of
action and laugh out loud humor to the point I actually had people looking at
me in the doctor’s office from laughing so much. But it was so worth it. I am
excited to read the first book so I can learn more about the characters and the
world S.J. has created. 5/5 Bloody Fangs

S.J. Kincaid was born in Alabama, grew up in California, and attended high school in New Hampshire, but it was while living beside a haunted graveyard in Scotland, that she realized that she wanted to be a writer. Her debut, Insignia, came out in July of 2012. The second book in the series, Vortex came out in July of 2013. The final book in the INSIGNIA trilogy will come out in Fall of 2014.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to S.J. for letting me review your book and say Thank You to Book Nerd Tours for letting me participate in this blog tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.